Food product



. of small andlar'ge particles. The small particles- Patented June 14,1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOOD PRODUCT David Dalsey, Chicago,Ill.

No Drawing. Application June 3, 1936, Serial No. 83,221

My invention relates to food products and has to do more particularlywith a concentrate obtained from potatoes or from other tub'ers androots, and a method of making the same.

An object of my invention is to provide a con-v centrate as indicatedabove which has a comb-ina- Lion of properties which render itespecially valuable for the manufacture of pancakes and like articles offood. My

invention finds its principal application inconnection'with potatoes,for the production of potato pancakes.-

Many formulas and recipes have been suggested heretofore for thepreparationol" potato pancakes.

However, inmost cases, the delectable charactC-l'iStlC "p0t&tO flavor islost or-disguised byless appetizingfiavors While, at the same time, apancake is obtained which. is heavy, soggy, or

' otherwise unattractive.

I also am aware-that potatoes have-been ground and desiccated top'roducemeals and flours for use in panification, usually as adiluent for cerealflours. My'invention is not concerned with this problem-r An object ofmy in cated product which p1 op'aration of a pancake. Said productretains; for long- .pe'riodsL-of time all of the attractive vention isto provide a desicis especially suitable for the natural flavorot "thetuberor, root and produces a pancakcwhich isof 'light'and fiufiytexture, is

highly digestible, Kand' .is ofa beautiful, golden' brown appearance;

'In' accordancewith rny invention, .I producea desiccated potato product"which is a'conglomerate represent -the major DOr-tio-n .of the-solubleelemonts of the tuber, which elements 'areilargely re-- sponsible for-the delicatefa'nd elusive flavor and which are usually-lost ordestroyed in processes .of the prior art.- 'Ihe.ooarseriparticlesrepresent the insoluble and cellular-portions -of the tuber and functionto impart to a'pancake a light, iluf fyand porous texturei Thefollowing'is; a.

invention and is to be taken'merely as illustrative Ei'amplepreferred'embodlment of my.

and not as'limit'in'gj .r

The potatoes or other tubersor roots are; peeled, trimmed and grated;-The' juice is then;

extracted" fi'orn the grated material. in' any suitable apparatus,preferably an ordinary cider. press, leaving a residue having a moisturecontent of from abbut 30 to 35%.

'The press cake-is removed fromthe 'filter clothv isture content offrom. about and is driedtoa mo potatoes.

(Cl. BEL-207) 5 to in apparatus which will not destroy or materiallyreduce the coarse shredded texture of the material. I preferably use arotary vacuum drier at a temperature of about 140 F. The drier isrotated rather slowly, say at about 5l0 5 R. P. M., to avoidsubstantially breaking the shreds of material. 1

. The extracted juice is mixed with potatoes which have been cooked byboiling or steaming, using substantially equal weights of juice and 10By combining the juice with cooked potatoes, the drying is simplified,avoiding certain technical difiiculties encountered when attempts aremade to dry the juice alone. The cooked potatoes are, furthermore, ofvalue in the final l5 product.

The combination of juice and cooked potatoes is thoroughly mixed so thatthe flavor bearing elements of the juice are uniformlydisseminated'throughout the solid material, and the mixture is thendried at a relatively low temperature. '1 preferably use for thisoperation a roller type of drier with a steam pressure of about 3pounds.

Thedried press cake is then combined with the dry material resultingfrom the last mentioned step in the proportion of about 7 parts byweight of the former to about 3 parts of the latter. However, theseproportions may be varied within wide limits. I

Color preser'vation.-As is well known, raw;

- potato material darkens very quickly due to en- "zy'mic activity,usually ascribed to the enzyme oxydase, inasmuch as the darkening onlyoccurs in the presence of oxygen after raw potatoes have been peeled. Inorder to produce an attractive potato compound, therefore, it is highlyimportant either rat this-darkening be prevented or that. the product bebleached after it has occurred.- I

consider it preferable to prevent thedarkening by rendering the enzymes.ineffective. In attacking this problem, one is closely restricted byreason'of the various food and drug laws, Federal ing oi fiour.. ,It isnot, however used for bleach- 5 'benzoyl'radical functions effectivelyto destroy the enzymic action in spite of the oxygen. Other compoundswhich may be used for the same purpose s'fre benzoic acid and benzoylchloride and,

in fact, any benzoyl compound of acid reaction which may be consumedwithout harm by a animal organism.

I preferably introduce the enzyme deterrent to the grated potatomaterial before the same is pressed in the proportion of not more thanabout one-tenth of one per cent by weight of the finished material.However, I find that a' very minute quantity produces the desiredresult, down to 1 part by weight of benzoic acid in 4,000 of thefinished material.

The desiccated material embodying my invention consists of a mixture ofcoarse and fine particles, the-coarse particles being in the form ofshreds, representing the raw fibrous material, while the fine materialrepresents the expressed water soluble ingredients, including mineralsalts, albumins and sugars, which adhere to the cooked potato particles.The soluble materials are very largely responsible for the subtle flavorof a tuber which is so easily lost in ordinary processes. In accordancewith my invention, it will be seen that these ingredients are carefullypreserved and,

since they are dried at relatively low temperatures, they are notdestroyedor modified in the course of the process.

Material embodying my invention may be used for the making of pancakesin accordance with any suitable recipe. For example, the desiccatedmaterial may simply be mixed with water, preferably with a smallproportion of egg, and fried in the usual manner. I

Pancakes produced from material embodying my invention are found to belight, fluffy and. porous, of delightful flavor, of a golden browncolor, and highly digestible, The presence of the coarse shreds providesa network or skeleton structure, insuring the fluffy character abovereferred to. The presence ofthe water soluble element adds greatly tothe food value, provides the characteristic flavor which is sofrequentlylost, andat the same time the ingredients thereof, especiallythe albumins, aid as a binder. The cooked potato material. being highlywater absorbent, serves as a filler or'binder and is largely responsiblefor imparting a golden brown color to the finished pancake.

I have found, furthermore, that the procedureof expressing the juice andlaterrecombining it with the shredded residue contributesto a largeextent to the desirable physical character- 'istics shown by my-product,and is of importance in rendering the process commercially practical.

The desiccated material embodying my invention is useful not only as apancake mix but has a wide variety of other culinary applications. Forexample, said material may be used as a filler in various recipes, suchas for fish or meat croquettes or loaves, etc., to which it not onlycontributes bulk but also a fluffy quality.

Various changes and modifications coming within the spirit of myinvention may suggest themselves to those skilled'in the art, and henceI do not wish to belimited to the specific details described herein oruses mentioned, except to the extent indicated in the appended claims,which are to be interpreted as broadly as the state of the art willpermit.

1. A method comprising shredding a raw tuber and removing a majorportion of the juice therefrom, drying the shreds in such manner as notto destroy the coarse physical character thereof, combining theextracted juice with a quantity of similar tuber material .which hasbeen cooked and drying said mixture, and combining with the product ofthe last mentioned step said dried shreds.

2. A method comprisingshredding a raw tuber and removing a major portionof the juice therefrom, drying the shreds at a relatively low tem--perature andwith a minimum of agitation, combining the extracted juicewith a quantity of similar tuber material which has been cooked anddrying said mixture at a low temperature, and combining with the productof the last mentioned step said dried shreds.

3. A method comprising shredding raw potato from, drying the shreds at arelatively low temperature and with a minimum of agitation, combiningthe extracted juice with a'quantity of cooked potato and drying saidmixture at a low temperature, and combining with the product of thelastmentioned s'tep said dried shreds.

4. As a newarticle of food, dried tuber material comprising theinsoluble. elements of the raw product in the form of coarse shreds, thesoluble elements of saidraw product, and a cooked portion of the samekind of tuber material product. 1

5. As a new article of food, a dried potato prodments of raw potato inthe form of coarse sheds, the soluble elements of raw potato, and-cookedpotato.

6. As a new article of food, a dried potato product comprising inadmixture the insoluble elements of raw potato vin the form of coarse.shreds, the soluble elements .of raw potato, and

not comprising in admixture the insoluble ele-

